Grandfather (29 page)

The protestor by the
orphanage preached that Grandfather had returned. He felt strongly
about it, but he was wrong. From what Cornelius was saying, they
weren’t returning . . . because they never left. They never
died.

“So why were you chosen as
the next leader?” Ashton asked.

“Cornelius looked at his
ring again and twisted it around. “I’m Grand Imperial Doyle’s
grandson.”

Wait, what?

“Wait a minute,” Marley
said, surprised. “You’re related to him?”

Cornelius nodded. “My
parents were killed during the search. So were my uncles and aunts.
I was the only living one who shared his blood. It only seemed
fitting that his followers should follow me . . . the blood of the
founding father.”

We were so shocked that
nobody said a word. Cornelius kept his eyes out the window, his
mind elsewhere, as if replaying some memory.

I now knew why Cornelius
was doing what he was doing. He was trying to follow in his
grandfather’s place. It explained where his evil was coming
from.

“It’s not going to work,”
Ashton said. “People will see what you’re doing, and that’ll be the
end of you.”

Cornelius turned his
attention back to us.

I glanced out the window
to see we had left the city center. How far was this
place?

“There will always be
people like you,” Cornelius said. “We’re too powerful. We’ve been
growing; our idea of society is growing stronger by the day. It’s
already too late for somebody to interfere. And those who attempt
will find themselves begging for mercy.”

“All it takes is another
powerful force,” I said. “And you’ll be gone.”

Cornelius
chuckled.

It seemed like we were
always amusing him.

“There’s somebody out
there who can destroy your plan,” Marley said.

I knew who she was talking
about. But honestly, I was starting to think Cornelius was right.
Nobody under that mountain seemed like fighters. And it was
starting to seem pretty impossible to get proof that could expose
them.

“If you’re thinking of
your people, save your breath,” Cornelius said. Then, he frowned.
“The only person who ever had a chance to stop me is long
gone.”

“And who was that?” Ashton
asked.

“An old colleague. We had
the same idea. At least at first. As soon as he headed down a
different path, I was forced to eliminate the
opposition.

I didn’t know what else to
say. I was truly losing hope. If Grandfather had been growing for
such a long time – before I was even born—maybe they
were
too
powerful.

When I glanced out the
window, I saw that we were approaching a huge and gorgeous house.
No. it was a
mansion
. The white, four-story house stood firm, surrounded by
gardens full of flowers in many colors and different sizes. Among
the flowers and decorative bushes were small fountains and large
fountains, each spewing out its own colored water. I saw green,
yellow, blue, purple, orange, and even white.

It was absolutely
breathtaking. And it was away from the skyscrapers, probably about
a half mile away from the wall. It wasn’t as crowded and fast-paced
as the city center. I could see why whoever lived their chose the
location.

“Here,” Cornelius said,
throwing me the familiar necklace. “Put it on and act like it’s the
best thing you’ve ever received in your lousy life.”

I quickly did so, not
saying another word, still wondering if it actually belonged to my
mother. I was starting to believe it didn’t, but Cornelius knew the
truth. If he was the only one, was it worth sticking around? Was it
worth me getting involved just to learn of my parents?

The vehicle pulled up
until it stopped at a familiar sight. Yeah, it was a different
location, but there was a similar crowd waiting for us, surrounding
a red pathway that ran through the gardens and fountains and ended
at the front doors of the mansion. The muffled noise of their
cheering barely made it inside the vehicle.

The crowd was larger this
time. It was probably because of my interview. Or maybe it was
because they had discovered that there were two more: Ashton and
Marley.

“
Remember the rules,”
Cornelius said, fidgeting in his seat.

We agreed just as a man in
a black uniform who had been standing on the red carpet rushed to
open the door. Cornelius stepped out and the crowd applauded and
cheered. I noticed cameras nearby. Unlike last time, they didn’t
swarm him. They were probably warned. I stepped out next, putting
my fake smile on beforehand. I was immediately swarmed by cameras
and flashing lights and bombarded with questions. The cheering grew
louder, and I even heard a few screams.

“Do you like it better
inside the wall than outside?” one woman shouted. Before I could
answer and before any more questions were thrown at me, Cornelius
stepped in.

“Let’s give him some
space, folks,” he said.

I turned back to see
Marley and Ashton about to step out. They were a nervous wreck. I
pointed at my lips. They noticed and forced a happy look. Ashton
was the worse at faking it. I was sure people would see right
through him. They stepped out of the vehicle and the cameras moved
from me to them.

“Has the kidnapping
brought you three together?” somebody asked.

“Uh . . . yeah,” Marley
answered, not knowing what else to do.

I expected Cornelius to
get them away before they gave anything up. Instead, he motioned
for a few officers to intervene. They walked over to Marley and
Ashton and pushed the cameras away from them.

They stayed with us as we
walked slowly down the path. Ashton, Marley, and I forced ourselves
to keep smiling. Cornelius threw his hand up, waving at the people.
They seemed to love it. I knew
he
was loving it.

It was difficult to hear
because everybody was screaming out something different. But there
was one person who could be heard perfectly.

“
Tell us about the other
side!” A man’s voice to my right shouted “Are there others like
you?” I glanced into the crowd, unable to find who was speaking.
Cornelius looked back at the officers. For once, he broke his own
rule, his face drowning in concern.

I wasn’t the only one who
had heard it. Uh oh.

“To our right,” one of the
officers said through a small white device.

Another voice to my left
joined. This time, it was a woman. “What do you think of the
wall?”

“And the left,” the
officer added. “Be sure it’s unnoticed.”

My eyes met Cornelius’s.
What was he doing? I glanced around for the woman just as a man in
a black jacket with short black hair, wearing black sunglasses,
approached her and whispered into her ear.

“What!” she
shouted.

“Let’s go,” Cornelius
said, picking up his speed. We stayed with him, turning in every
direction, looking for the officers. We approached the door. I
looked back toward the woman once more, just in time to see her
being escorted away. The people around didn’t pay any attention to
her. It was how Cornelius wanted it.

“Did you hear that?”
Ashton whispered in my ear.

I nodded. Yeah, it was a
good thing, but it was kind of scary. I mean, what was Cornelius
going to have done to those people. Would they be thrown in jail
for bringing up the separation? Or worse, would they be
killed?

I tried not thinking about
it, which was going to be difficult. I had to play Cornelius’s
game.

As we entered the mansion,
a fat man with a gray beard greeted us. This guy looked different.
Every time I saw somebody with gray or white hair, they never
looked old in the face. Whoever this guy was, he looked his age,
maybe in his mid-fifties. He shook his hand. “So glad you could
attend,” he said. His gaze shifted to me. “Here he is,” he
marveled.

“Here he is,” Cornelius
agreed with a jolly tone. His nostrils flared up as he looked back
through the door toward the crowd. The man and woman who brought up
the wall and the outside scared him. Good.

“Pleasure to meet you,”
the man said. “I’m Richie Harrison the third, or Mr. Harrison as
most call me.”

I nodded. His eyes met my
necklace. He picked up the pendant with his fingers.
“Extraordinary,” he whispered. “Such an amazing gift for you. Such
a tragedy.”

He released the
pendant.

“
You’ve been the big talk.
Such a remarkable story you have.” He looked at Cornelius. “You’re
a good man, President Cornelius. If not for you, who knows where
these three would be?”

“
Thank you, Richie,”
Cornelius said. “We’re glad we could make it,”

Before Cornelius could say
anything else to Mr. Harrison, a woman standing a few feet away
called for him. Cornelius walked over and greeted her with a peck
on each cheek.

Mr. Harrison kept his
attention on us, his eyes flickering from Ashton to Marley. “And
these are the two that were captured with you.”

I nodded.

“
Now I know everything is
moving fast right now, but you’ll get used to it. Everybody’s
trying to get to you all at the same time. Sometimes you just got
to ignore them.”

Neither one of us said
anything, not knowing what to say.
But we
were sure to keep smiling.

Mr. Harrison shook his
head, as if disappointed. “Now surely you can do better than that,”
he said. He bent over to us and whispered. “I know a fake smile
when I see one. Gonna have to do a helluva lot better than that if
you don’t want to get into trouble.”

We all glanced at each
other in surprise.

Mr. Harrison snickered
and, playing with his beard, walked away before we could say
anything else to him.

“
Think he knows?” Ashton
whispered to me.

“
Don’t know,” I
said.

“
Has to,” Marley said. “He
knows we’re faking.”

I observed the room,
hoping to see Mr. Harrison. I wanted to find out more, but he was
out of sight. Instead, I caught Cornelius’s eyes wandering deep
into mine as if hoping to hear what we were whispering about. I
nudged Ashton and Marley who were still whispering about Mr.
Harrison and whether or not he knew that we were faking everything.
They looked up and stayed silent when they saw Cornelius watching
us.

Before we had a chance to
speak or even move an inch, a woman dressed in a long pink gown
approached us with a tender smile upon bright pink lips. She took
out her phone that looked like a piece of glass as Cornelius’s did.
“You must be the three from the outside,” she said, pointing the
phone at us and snapping a quick picture. “Oh, everybody has just
been gossiping about you three. I just can’t wait to brag to my
friends that I actually met you!” She put her phone away. “You’re
one of us now. It’s time to enjoy the beautiful life we have here
in the city.”

Not what I wanted to hear.
But I kept telling myself that it was only for show. It was
fake.

She walked away, rushing
deeper into the house.

Cornelius motioned for us
to follow him. We did so, being led into a large ballroom filled
with more people dressed in extravagant gowns and tuxedos. Many
were dancing in the center of the floor while others stood or sat
at round tables surrounding the dance floor. They all looked so
happy, laughing loudly over a glass of what I assumed was wine or
champagne. In one corner of the room, a string quartet played a
slow composition. In another corner, several tables were set up,
bearing all types of foods. I had never seen so much food all in
one place. What caught my attention the most was the large fountain
at the end of the food table. Water didn’t flow out of this. It
appeared to be chocolate.

“Good to see you, Mr.
President,” a younger woman said as she passed us.

“Mr. President,” an older
man said with a nod. He looked at me, Ashton, and Marley from head
to toe. “Extraordinary story. Glad you can be here.”

“Some fruit?” somebody
behind us asked.

We turned around at the
same time to see a man dressed in bright blue carrying a tray
loaded with fruit surrounding some sort of dip.

“N-no thank you,” Marley
said.

The man walked away,
saying nothing.

We turned back around,
just in time to see a woman, also dressed in blue and carrying a
tray approaching us. “Champagne,” she offered, holding the tray at
our eye level. Once again, we rejected the offer. She offered
Cornelius some. He accepted.

“There’s so much going
on,” Marley whispered. “Everybody is moving so fast.”

Ashton and I agreed. One
person right after another wanted to speak to us or offer us some
sort of snack or drink. My nerves were going crazy.

“Mr. President,” a woman
in a long black gown, wearing tons of jewelry, greeted. She
extended a delicate hand. I noticed her fingers. She was wearing
sparkling gold and silver rings on almost all of them.